Caroline Wozniacki credited “being in a good place in my head” for her impressive form at Wimbledon as she dismissed claims she was still mentally suffering following the end of her relationship with golfer Rory McIlroy.
The former world No 1 hit out at being branded a victim after making it to the fourth round at Wimbledon, only the third time she has reached the last 16 of a grand slam tournament since 2011.
She defeated Croatian 16-year-old Ana Konjuh 6-3, 6-0 on Friday.
McIlroy ended things with Wozniacki shortly after invitations for their wedding had reportedly been sent out, and the 16th seed said she was coping fine following the break-up.
“Everyone here wants to make me a victim. I’m not a victim. I’m just playing tennis. I’m going about my life. I’m playing well,” the Dane said. “I felt a lot of support from everybody and the crowd. The crowd has been amazing.”
Wozniacki denied that her tennis had dropped off during her time with McIlroy and was improving again now they are no longer together.
“This year I’m feeling good. My game is in a good state,” she said.
“My private life has nothing to do with my tennis. When I’m out there, it’s a yellow ball, white lines. It’s about playing it over the net and inside the lines more than your opponent.
“To play good tennis, your head has to be there. I’m in a good place in my head right now mentally.
“I think that shows on court as well. I’m just so focused on what I have to do out there and what my purpose is when I go on court.”
Of her form as she targets a first grand slam championship, she said: “I’m really pleased. I’m happy. My game is in great shape. I love playing at Wimbledon, so the more matches I can get the happier I am. It’s exciting.”
Wozniacki will play unseeded Barbora Zahlavova Strycova for a place in the last eight on Monday after the Czech player surprised second seed Li Na 7-6, 7-6.
The match ended in bizarre circumstances as Li, facing match point, successfully challenged a forehand that had been called long, leading to the point being ordered to be replayed.
But Zahlavova Strycova, the world No 43, was able to quickly celebrate victory for real when Li served up a seventh double fault on the replayed point.
“I am very happy. I played a great match and I believed I could do it. It’s my biggest win,” Zahlavova Strycova said.
She said she did not hear Li challenge on match point against the background of noise in Court One.
“I thought it was over. I had to get my concentration back but happily, for me, she served a double fault,” she said.
Petra Kvitova, the 2011 champion, survived a scare before seeing off the challenge of the five-time champion Venus Williams. Kvitova, the sixth seed, lost the opening set to the American 7-5, but she fought back to take the next two 7-6, 7-5 to secure her spot against Peng Shuai in the last 16.
Djokovic shaken but unhurt after tumble
Top seed Novak Djokovic survived a shoulder injury scare to reach the Wimbledon fourth round on Friday with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 triumph over France's Gilles Simon.
The 2011 champion needed a medical timeout to receive treatment after hurting his left shoulder in a spectacular diving attempt to reach a Simon drive in the sixth game of the third set on Centre Court.
But the Serb overcame the scare to set up a clash with French 14th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for a place in the quarter-finals of the competition on Monday.
Djokovic admitted he was shaken by his fall and finished the match in some discomfort. The world No 2 said: “Yes, it was a sharp pain when I fell. It was an awkward fall. I was just hoping nothing was going on bad with the joint.
“I just came from the doctor’s office, did an ultrasound. It’s all looking good. They said the joint is not damaged, which is the most important thing.”
Earlier, Grigor Dimitrov, the No 11 seed, twice had to come from a set down before he reached the fourth round.
The Bulgarian got the better of Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-7, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a match that lasted almost three hours.
Fabio Fognini hit out at Wimbledon officials following his third-round exit to Kevin Anderson 4-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
The Italian 16th seed was fined US$27,500 (Dh101,000) for damaging the grass court and verbally abusing an official during his second-round match on Wednesday against Alex Kuznetsov. “If we talking about tennis, I say that I really enjoy, but the other stuff I say no,” he said. “The only things I don’t like is Wimbledon’s rules.”
Defending champion Andy Murray steamed into the last 16 of Wimbledon with another show of force on Friday, this time outclassing Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.
The home favourite, attempting to defend the title he won last year to become the first Briton to win the men’s singles for 77 years, turned the late evening Centre Court duel into a one-sided romp.
Murray appeared to be toying with 27th seed Bautista Agut for most of the match and could even afford a third-set lapse when he dropped serve at 4-0.
The third seed has won his past 16 matches at the All England Club, beginning with his gold-medal run at the 2012 Olympics, and so far at this year’s championships he has conceded a mere 19 games in three matches.
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MIDWAY
Produced: Lionsgate Films, Shanghai Ryui Entertainment, Street Light Entertainment
Directed: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Ed Skrein, Woody Harrelson, Dennis Quaid, Aaron Eckhart, Luke Evans, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Darren Criss
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
About Okadoc
Date started: Okadoc, 2018
Founder/CEO: Fodhil Benturquia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Healthcare
Size: (employees/revenue) 40 staff; undisclosed revenues recording “double-digit” monthly growth
Funding stage: Series B fundraising round to conclude in February
Investors: Undisclosed
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs: 2019 GMC Yukon Denali
Price, base: Dh306,500
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Power: 420hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 621Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.9L / 100km
ROUTE%20TO%20TITLE
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Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh234,000 - Dh329,000
On sale: now
About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech and wellness
Number of staff: 4
Funding to date: Bootstrapped
'Ghostbusters: From Beyond'
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace
Rating: 2/5
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
